"Sriracha chicken? I could go for something spicy!" She beams up at her father, quite pleased to get to pull him into her world. He'll have a lot of questions, and she wants to be able to answer them!

Because the alternative idea - that she only saw him as a singular ray of aetheric beauty in a world she wanted to give up, and thus not worth investing too much of herself into because he couldn't follow - makes her particularly sad. It's fighting that mindset that made her join the Free Council and not one of the other orders. She knows a part of her yearns painfully for the aether, and were she not of the optimistic mindset, she might have tried to swim the abyss much like Arielle almost did, blinded by distant hope.

But the Fallen World has beauty, too. Beauty and potential. Technology and fallen art and human achievement is beautiful. Certain things only mages could do, at one point, humans can do too. That's a big fucking deal! Harnessing lightning? 3D printing? Injection moulding, car manufacturing, fucking... planes and rockets and satellites and the internet!

She bets they don't have global 4G networks in the Aether! Though they apparently do on the ocean orouboros, according to the aeon of Force's phone, so maybe they do in the aether too. But humans have them and that's the important point she's thinking about, and that's what she needs Ari and anyone who finds not being in the supernal realm so troublesome to see it too.

Speaking of tech: Val pulls her laptop free, flops back into her bed, and scoots back to begin going through her messages and Youtube-business stuff.

...oops. Wait, what? She rereads the article a couple of times, brows raising up. She expected it to leave an idea behind, maybe incite some change, but she didn't quite expect someone to mimic what she did and just hit the reset button. Well. ...she'll have to remember that for later. Hope Ms. Abedin makes it out of that okay.

To the changeling, she responds to let them know that Noway has very powerful, magical friends who will make sure no one comes to bother him, but that she can certainly relate to their concern. To the others ... she just says 'trade secret' and adds a coy winking smiley face, with a 'stay tuned for answers though!.' She then adds their name - and the changeling - to the list of people she wants to invite to her private magic channel when she begins making those tutorials. Probably make an intro video this week and get magic-subs going (or sleepers who stumble on it and think it's special effects.)

It's interesting to get glimpses into changeling society point of views, though. Makes her curious to meet them in person.

That makes her smile. Sadly, but, she's gladdened. It would have really rent her if she never heard from her again.

I am proud of you for stepping back and thinking of that. And so grateful I can help, at least a little. You have so much to offer, and so much more to learn. Do you have access to anything nice to eat? I think you deserve a nibble... Milkshakes tend to soothe my nerves. Not exactly healthy on the figure, but one now and then...

Nice. Sounds good! She responds with a thumb up selfie from herself.

Valerie grins. Now that felt pretty nice, teaching someone else how to magic. A bit of a compromise to get into Grease's methodology was needed, but that got her closer.

'Aww, thanks Michael!' she is quick to respond. There's a Free Council Mastigos if ever she'd seen one.

She winces at Grease's admission. Hope it wasn't one of the mages... She'll have to ask Ikenga to ask if anyone got hurt by an overdose of tranquilizers.

I did warn you that I had some friends looking for you to take you to me so we can chat face to face, so I hope that wasn't one of those. Maybe if you give me a friend-or-foe password I can give them?

...Fair point. I suppose I don't, or their political ideas. I'll call my mentor and see if she can't call them off, then.

There's a pause, then she sends another.

I do know my boyfriend pretty well, however, and he can make holes in space. He could bring you here, to me and people I do know.

In response, Val simply sends her a smiley face and a Let's Gaze link to let her pick one to synchronize on.

Valerie wasn't sure what she was expecting, whether a science video or what, but Grease picks a student animation. Something short, sweet, about a girl longing after a boy only to find she doesn't need him.

Once it's over the two of them talk about her golem for a while, before bidding her good night and logging off.

Ethan stretches and sprawls out on the bed. "Everything okay, hon?"

The Chair emails her back to say they'll move to a monitoring-only approach unless she does something that requires intervention.

She notices a new name on her contact list while she's sending, too - Heimarmene. No picture, and her number is an equation in High Speech.

Hello Wire. I'm glad to see you so chipper. You light up the world when you smile. How are things?

Ethan nibbles at her neck, purring softly.

That isn't conventionally possible with the Practices you know, because spells can't be designed with complex triggers or intelligent application until the Practice of Dynamics, but it may be possible to cheat creatively if you can create a clever way of displaying it that subtly triggers Quiesence in anyone not capable of finding it without a full-on dissonant attack, which is how Guardians of the Veil do it - they set up what are called labyrinths, nested lies that reveal the truth only to the dedicated. The alternative would likely require an Imbued server that runs a combined Space and Prime effect that checks if the person on the other end has a shard of the Abyss and then redirecting them if they do.

Excellent. Get back in touch when you head to Cornell - or sooner, if you'd like to talk. I'm available now, even.

Ethan chuckles and scratches her back. Even in humans that's deeply pleasant. "I can't help it~ you're so cute."

He probably would, too. Turning animalistic has made him horny. Still, he's good with boundaries.

"We are a little saccharine, to be honest~

All right. Take care, Wire.